Love in the Time of Terra Nova
by SiriStarkiller
Summary: Romance unexpectedly finds Commander Taylor in Terra Nova. But not without trouble.
1. The Third Pilgrimage

**So I have made some huge changes in this chapter, first edit in over two years. As i update each chapter I will date it. Edit 12-18-2014.**

**I own Rebecca.**

Chapter 1

Year 2144

The engine rumbled through Rebecca's hands and feet, pulsing through her whole body. She gripped the steering wheel and let out a slow breath as her heart thudded. She squinted up through the visor of her helmet at the dirty orange clouds that spanned the skies and filtered the light to match their rank color. She looked back down at the dusty race track, almost willing another tumbleweed to dance across its hot glossy surface. Looking over her controls and double checking the readings from her gauges, she took several deep breaths from her modified re-breather helmet to keep herself alert. The radio buzzed in her ear, giving last minute checks for her to acknowledge.

Anticipation started growing in the pit of her stomach as the red start-up lights lit one by one. Then as the decisive green light glowed, signaling the start of the race, the instinct that her years of racing gave her kicked in, easily letting her take the lead out of the first turn. Two hours later, when she crossed the finish line in first place, the roar of the crowd made her heart soar. Even through her labored breathing and aching bones, she still enjoyed the thrill of the race. Rebecca pulled up to the garages and slipped her car inside as the large doors snapped open. They closed behind her with a resounding thud and a blast of concentrated air swept across her car, washing the sand and dirt out of every crevice. She unstrapped her helmet from around her re-breather and crawled out of her racecar, her team surrounding her with yells of excitement. She tried her best to respond in kind, but didn't have the energy. Slowly, her crew realized how weak she was and after their enthusiasm faded, her head mechanic helped her through the connected buildings and over to the winner's circle.

Rebecca walked into the clean hallways of the connected main building and took off her re-breather. This finally forced out a familiar wheezing cough. She took a few slow breaths back in her rebreather, she just had to get through the ceremony. Turning carefully, Rebecca handed her re-breather to the mechanic who had helped her and put on her best smile. Then she walked into the massive room and into the fame.

Though she couldn't hear the crowd cheering, she could still see orange tinted masses moving and pulsating in their enclosed viewing areas through the large polished glass walls that protected them all from the noxious air on the outside. She took her trophy with a big smile for the fans, shook a few officials' hands, and purposefully moved off of the podium and back into the hall when her part had been played in its entirety. Reporters swarmed her with flashing cameras and questions that never seemed to end. Rebecca muscled through them with the help of a few sympathetic drivers who were waiting nearby. Grateful of the silence, she passed into some less populated hallways and found her way down to the garage. Just as she reached the garage the coughing fit that she was repressing finally overwhelmed her. Carl, her team owner rushed up behind her and helped to push her those last few feet into the garage, closing the door quickly behind him. He guided Rebecca to a nearby chair and let her collapse upon it.

"You can't let those vultures see you like this Rebecca. All the media needs is more terror to feed to the people," he glanced back nervously at the door as if the reporters were suddenly able to see and hear through solid sheets of metal.

"Everyone is already terrified," Rebecca replied between coughs. She was fumbling for her inhaler inside of her race suit and sucked it in desperately as she finally extracted it from an inner pocket. The medication only soothed her for a moment before a new wave of coughing overtook her. She fell to the floor, her chair clattering loudly across the floor. Carl cursed under his breath and picked Rebecca up off of the floor. When her coughing finally subsided, she pulled her hand away from her mouth. Carl's face went white and she quickly reached up and wiped her mouth, knowing that there would be blood there. Then she spoke the words she had been dreading,

"I'm sorry Carl, but it's time. I have to resign, this was my last race. At least I went out with a bang." Her voice now hoarse and cracking, emphasized her point. Carl didn't seem to be surprised at this.

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to Terra Nova." Finally, the shock on Carl's face was quite clear.

"What? How? It's practically impossible to be chosen for Terra Nova!"

"Honestly, I have no idea. They say for my military experience, but I haven't been active for years and they know how far my disease has progressed."

"Maybe they know they're saving your life."

Rebecca gave him a wry smile, "Maybe."

She took her final paycheck, said her goodbyes, strapped on her re-breather, and walked into the dusty orange sunset.

Three Months Later

Rebecca shouldered her pack and gazed up at the cavernous room around her. It was cold and covered with dark gray metal and shining glass veins. Each vein was filled with a pulsing blue light, powered by some hidden mechanical heart. She tugged at the sleeve of her uniform, which she had not worn for some time. Excitement and hope rose within her from a place she though was long dead, but she tried her hardest to keep it in check. After working her way through the last few security checks, she had finally caught up with the small marine unit, settled at the head of the line of civilians waiting to enter the portal. She fell into line and smiled softly to herself, her life was about to change forever. There was nothing left for her here anyway. She coughed harshly into her sleeve and tried to hide the wheezing that was creeping into her breaths. This made her think desperately of the fresh air that Terra Nova was rumored to have, hoping it would be enough to cure her.

The soft humming of the room slowly rose in pitch until it felt like the entire room was vibrating. Rebecca could practically feel the portal powering up before it actually opened. The vibrations under her feet were not so different from those of the engine from her racecar, and in a way that was comforting. She suppressed a cough once more and earned a concerned glance from the officer walking by her. He paused and nodded in recognition,

"Congratulations on the win the other month, Miles."

"Thank you sir," she smiled softly. Sadness seeped into her heart as she reminded herself that she wouldn't be able to race any longer in Terra Nova. Suddenly the portal appeared with a loud crack, forcing her out of her thoughts and extracting a few scattered cheers throughout the nervous crowd. Wind started to swirl up around the crowd, whipping Rebecca's hair out from under her cap. Rebecca and her line of marines were ordered forward and they walked right up to the portal and stopped. The first marine rushed the portal with confidence and disappeared into the vibrating blue disk with a flurry of bright sparks. As the line in front of her grew shorter, Rebecca's anticipation grew exponentially.

She took a deep breath as she became the head of the line and closed her eyes until the officer told her it was her turn. She opened her eyes and walked steadily towards the portal, her hair flying wildly. The humming seemed to shake every bone in her body, but she kept walking straight into the light. Blue light engulfed her senses and electricity vibrated through her body, but she just kept pushing forward until the light faded, and a world she had thought lost to humanity came into focus.

**I'm hoping to keep the editing going, please review my new chapter! **


	2. Welcome to Terra Nova

**(March 12, 2015) This chapter has been officially re-written.**

**I own Rebecca**

Chapter 2

The light faded and the humming was replaced with a sound she barely remembered from her childhood. The chattering and whistling of birds and the rustlings of a forest filled her ears, green surrounded her and continued to stretch on, far above her head and around her.

Rebecca had only taken three steps before the fresh air registered in her damaged lungs. Sharp pains racked her chest and she fell to her knees gasping for air. A medic quickly appeared by her side and dragged her out of the way of the portal's exit just as the next person walked through. Propped up against a large tree trunk, Rebecca clung to the oxygen mask the medic had given her. Slowly, each breath became just a little easier to bear. When she was strong enough to stand again, the medic left her with the little oxygen mask. Rebecca kept it nearby, but found breathing without it wasn't so bad. Her lungs still ached and stung a little with each breath, but it was more bearable than usual.

She fell in with the marines, who stared at her in concern and surprise. Wondering how she could have been cleared for a mission of this importance. Rebecca had the same question. To distract herself, she looked around at her surroundings. She took in each tree towering above her, the scraggly bushes covering their bases, and the flowers of all sorts of sizes and colors. She brushed her fingers against the strange leaves of a nearby branch, savoring the earthy feel. This world was exciting and new and Rebecca felt some hope from seeing it.

By now all of the members of the pilgrimage had passed through the portal and the security from Terra Nova was rounding everyone up, taking head counts and preparing for the rest of their journey. The marines were given the order to ready their weapons and Rebecca pulled her rifle down from the sling on her shoulder, thumbing the safety as she went, the weapon powered up with a faint hum. Then her unit spread out among the perimeter of civilians with the Terra Nova security and they started the long trek to Terra Nova.

The hike was accompanied by never-ending lush green plants, trees, grass, dirt, glimpses of blue sky, in short, it was breathtaking. As the trail became more strenuous a slight wheeze crept into Rebecca's breathing. She was starting to feel fatigued, a common problem with her issue, but she snuck a few quick breaths from the oxygen mask and it seemed to stay the issue. As the path leveled out, they reached a massive clearing, and on the far side of it lay their destination, Terra Nova.

It stretched out with massive walls. Rebecca had been briefed on the structure and layout of Terra Nova, but it was so much more impressive when seen with her own eyes.

The gate was open, waiting for their arrival. People were led inside and eventually the whole crowd was herded into the large open area just within the gate. A large wooden building loomed over them, the door above the balcony swung open and the infamous Commander Taylor walked out.

He was in his late fifties with gray hair, and a full gray beard. He wore all black combat fatigues and black boots. He was heavily muscled for his age, and wore a stern face that held an air of authority clear for all to see. Any man could easily be intimidated by him. Commander Taylor stood with both arms resting on the railing and welcomed the third pilgrimage to Terra Nova, our fresh start.

As he finished his welcome Commander Taylor turned and walked back into the building. Rebecca and the marines walked up to the building, which turned out to be Taylor's office. He sat behind a table that was held up by a massive dinosaur skull. He was leaning back in his chair, as if he was waiting for something to happen. He looked at each person in front of him but his gaze lingered on Rebecca. She held his stare trying to hide the mix of emotions running through her mind, intimidation, admiration, and curiosity. Luckily she didn't have to wait long, seconds later Rebecca heard two people enter the room behind her.

Commander Taylor stood up gestured behind them. The two people who had just entered walked around them and stood next to Taylor. They each wore a set of light armor and had guns holstered in their belts. Rebecca looked at their faces and her blood turned to ice. She knew exactly who that woman was, and she began to suspect her true purpose at Terra Nova. Taylor derailed her train of thought by introducing the man as Guzman, "the head of security here at Terra Nova and my trusted advisor." He was tall, well built, and he had dark hair and an intense gaze. Rebecca leveled a cool look at the woman next to him and saw that she was staring intently at her. The woman had long black hair that was tied up, and was tall and slender, but still sturdily built.

"This is Alicia Washington, my second in command. You will take orders from them without hesitation." Just from the sound of her name, Rebecca suppressed a pang of anger as she remembered what Alicia had done to her. This rush of energy made her exasperate her breathing just enough to make her emit a single cough, which earned her an intimidating glare from the commander. She involuntarily clenched her fists behind her back as Taylor continued,

"Guzman will show you to your quarters and we will talk later about your assigned duties. Dismissed." Taylor paused, glanced at Alicia, and said,

"Miles, you stay here." Rebecca obeyed and remained standing in her position, forcing the marines following Guzman to walk around her. Alicia wavered, took a step towards Rebecca and stopped. Rebecca didn't know what to do. She had never thought this day would come. She made no move towards Alicia out of sheer indecision, so she was forced to turn her complete attention to Taylor and ignore Alicia. Commander Taylor observed this exchange and finally broke the silence,

"Wash, will you wait outside? I need to talk to Miles by myself." Alicia looked over at him with a guarded glance and swiftly walked outside. Taylor turned to Rebecca,

"Do you know why you were brought to Terra Nova, Miles?"

"Not exactly, sir."

"Wash had it arranged that you would be sent here, shortly before she walked through the time portal herself. She won't tell me why, but I'm thinking you will." Taylor watched Rebecca, waiting for his answer. Rebecca could understand why Alicia didn't tell Taylor, but since she was here the truth was bound to come out.

"Alicia and I grew up together, sir."

"Are you expecting me to believe that's the only reason?"

"No sir. I expect it was because I was dying." The commander cocked his head as she continued, "I've had my lung issues for most of my life so Alicia would have known I was running out of time. The best and only known cure are certain components found only in fresh air, which could only be found here, in Terra Nova."

Taylor tilted his head away from Rebecca and smiled sarcastically at her dance around the real answer,

"I read that in your file. That is a good reason, but you are still not telling me why. I trust Wash, but I need to know if I can trust you."

"Alicia is my sister."

Taylor didn't look impressed,

"There is no record of that in either of your files."

"There wouldn't be. We erased the link before we joined the military. We had the same mother. When she died, it wasn't hard to alter the records."

"Now, why would you do that?"

"It's a long story, sir."

"I would like to hear it one day, Miles. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir."

"Good, now you will be assigned to Terra Nova transportation security. Since you have more experience than the rest of the marines you arrived with, you'll start higher up. You will be involved with missions outside of this compound. And due to your driving abilities, you will be in charge of transportation into the field. In the meantime, you will get more training in hand-to-hand combat. I want to see your potential. I need more good people working in higher places. You have the family ties. Now show me that I can trust you."

"Thank you, sir. I have nothing to hide, sir."

"That is good to hear, Miles. Now go rest up, you'll start training this afternoon."

Rebecca nodded and turned to walk out the door. As she passed a window, she saw Taylor in the glass's reflection, watching her walk out with a curious look on his face.

Rebecca was walking around trying to find someone to ask for directions to her quarters when someone grabbed her and started to pull her behind a building. She quickly turned, grabbed the arm that held hers, and swung her attacker into the side of the building with a muffled bang. It was Alicia, so she shoved her forearm underneath her sister's chin and said,

"What do you want from me Alicia? You got me here. If you're expecting a reconciliation, don't hold your breath." Rebecca lifted her arm just enough to let Alicia speak. She responded with a sigh,

"I brought you here to help you, not to make up. But I've never stopped being sorry, Becca. It's been 13 years." Alicia glanced up over Rebecca's shoulder, in the direction of Taylor's office and a look of faint embarrassment crossed her face.

"Did you tell him?" Alicia whispered.

"He asked, and I answered."

"Becca, can we just put everything behind us and start over? I want my sister back." Alicia said firmly. Rebecca responded simply by placing the pressure back onto her sister's throat to silence her. After a moment of contemplation, Rebecca let go of Alicia and backed away from her slowly.

"I'll give you this one more chance, only because I know bringing me here wasn't easy. Just don't screw everything up again."

Alicia started at her sister and eventually nodded. They stood there awkwardly for a moment. Rebecca knew this was the first step in fixing their relationship, and she still wasn't sure if she wanted to fix it yet. She just had to deal with Alicia's desperate attempts to feel whole until she made up her mind. Alicia showed Rebecca back out into the common area and down to the living areas in silence.

Commander Taylor stood on the balcony connected to his office, having just witnessed Alicia and Rebecca's interesting reunion. He smiled, shook his head, and walked back around and into his office and sat down behind his desk. He leaned back in the chair and folded his hands in silence, thinking. The officer he had requested walked inside and saluted Taylor. Taylor looked up at him and said,

"Cancel Rebecca Miles' firearms training for today and tell her to find me after lunch. She will be participating in a harder class this afternoon."

"Yes sir," and the officer rushed out of Taylor's office.

He leaned back in his chair again and said, mostly to himself, "I want to see how her hand-to-hand combat is."

**Please review! Any feedback is appreciated.**


	3. Slashers

**(March 12, 2015) Officially rewritten.**

**I own Rebecca.**

Chapter 3

Rebecca was in a defensive crouch, circling her sparring partner cautiously. He threw a punch; she leaned on her heel and dodged it. He threw another punch and Rebecca dodged it again. In a blur of movement, she swiftly spun around and caught his extended arm. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the shock in his eyes. She pulled on his arm and swung her upper body downward, efficiently hurling him over her back and slamming him onto the mat. His breath rushed out of him on impact.

She reached down to help her partner back up. He grasped her hand and rose up, tugging at his crooked armor. After the dust settled and he slowly caught his breath, he grinned at Rebecca ruefully and laughed,  
>"Why did they have to put me up against the marine?"<p>

Rebecca smirked and said,

"I never got your name, soldier."

"Pointer, Samuel Pointer." At that moment Alicia yelled out at them from across the training field,

"Miles, Pointer, again!"

They dropped back into crouches and slowly circled around each other again. This time Rebecca took the offensive start and feinted a jab to Pointer's right. Anticipating his block, she twisted around to hit him in his now exposed side. As he flinched down to the right, she twisted again, this time planting her palm forcefully into his chest. He cried out and staggered back. The flurry of movements only lasted for a few seconds, but embarrassment managed to flush Samuel's face as he was quick to realize all of the other sparing groups had stopped to watch them.

His face burned red and he desperately charged Rebecca with a yell. Easily, she dodged and blocked every attack that Sam threw at her. When he finally stopped swinging wildly at her, he stood there panting and dripping with sweat. Rebecca suddenly dropped to the ground and kicked her leg out in an arc, sweeping Sam clear off of his feet and slamming back down onto the mat again. She rose up to walk over to Sam, who was still on the ground. She placed her foot onto his chest until he relaxed and shouted his yield. As Sam lay there, still trying to catch his breath, applause broke out from all around them. Rebecca reached down to Sam again and helped him up, a grin crossing his face once more. She smacked him on the back, making him stagger, and she started to walk away. Just as she reached the edge of the mat a voice rang out over the clapping, effectively silencing it.

"Now just where do you think you're going, Miles? No one said that you were done here." Commander Taylor walked through the small audience with Guzman by his side. Taylor stopped a few feet away from Rebecca and looked straight into her eyes. She tried not to show her discomfort, so she stared right back, unflinching. Taylor held the gaze and raised his arm, gesturing across the training field to summon Alicia.

Alicia started to walk up to Taylor, and as she neared him he tore his eyes from Rebecca's and walked over to the wooden rack of sparring weapons. He grabbed two wooden staffs and tossed them into the air. Alicia plucked one out of the air and glared at Taylor. Rebecca smiled as she grabbed the second staff and she continued the motion to flourish it a few times. Now that she had paused, she was starting to feel a slight burn in her muscles and in her lungs. She took a few slow deep breaths to help soothe her lungs. Alicia moved onto the mat and stood at the ready as Rebecca moved to face her. Rebecca spun the staff nervously once, then twice, but just as they each took a step towards each other, a horrible noise made them freeze.

A loud screeching roar rang out from the trees far outside of the fence. Shortly after the first screech ended another started, but it sounded out a few hundred yards to the right of the first. Everyone snapped their heads in the direction of the noise and Taylor's radio started receiving multiple transmissions at once. He took it off of his belt and started ordering his men while he rushed towards the racket.

"It's a pack of Allosaurs. Ready the sonic blasters. Just keep them away from the fence!"

Alicia dropped her staff, glanced at Rebecca, and took off after Taylor. Rebecca stared after them for a moment and suddenly dropped her staff to follow Alicia. As she neared the perimeter fence, the ground started to shake slightly under her feet, but she kept running until she caught up with the others. At the fence she was shocked to see three massive scaly creatures on a rampage heading straight towards the fence. She assumed that those were the Allosaurs. The men posted on top of the fence started firing blasts of sonic propulsion that pummeled the Allosaurs. They slowed and eventually stood their ground a few hundred feet away from the fence, bellowing and shrieking at it defiantly. After a few more blasts hit them, the Allosaurs turned and trotted back into the forest.

"Crisis averted people, good work. But keep a look out, they'll be back to try at least one more time," Taylor started up to the gate. He turned to nod at Alicia and Rebecca,

"Next time ladies. Guzman, Wash, with me."

Eventually the crowd cleared and Rebecca was left standing alone in front of the gate, looking out into the forest that seemed to go on forever. Sam, her sparring partner, walked up behind her rubbing his shoulder with a grimace.

"It's o.k. Rebecca," he smirked, "I'll protect you from the scary dinosaurs. You have nothing to worry about." Obviously pretending to mistake her wonder for fear, he reached up to put his arm around Rebecca's shoulders. She moved quickly, twisting his arm behind his back and pushing her thumb under his shoulder blade. He froze and whimpered in pain. She leaned over next to his ear and whispered,

"Don't touch me, Pointer. Understand?"

He nodded quickly. Rebecca released her hold on him and walked back to her quarters. On the walk back Rebecca thought about her future in Terra Nova. The only way for her to be on the front lines was to gain Taylor's trust, and she was willing to do whatever it took to impress him.

Months later, Rebecca was flourishing in Terra Nova. Her breathing was practically normal, she had not had a single asthma attack since she stepped through the portal, and she was quickly rising in command and in popularity. As time flew by, Taylor started taking Rebecca along for more missions, eventually she was a part of every one, no matter how menial one would seem. He included her in a small group of soldiers that he himself taught once a week, to be groomed for greater responsibility in the colony. Rebecca craved these opportunities to work with Taylor, and eventually she found that she could hardly bare to be away from him. On the one year anniversary of her pilgrimage she recognized her feelings, and everything changed.

Rebecca leaned over the sink and splashed her face with water again and again. Her thoughts were consumed by Commander Taylor and she hated herself for it. Rebecca had refused to let anyone in since she had her heart broken so many years ago. She couldn't ruin everything over a silly crush, and most importantly, she couldn't let Taylor even suspect that she was in a moment of weakness.

She donned her light armor and walked down to the training field. The fifth pilgrimage had just arrived two days before and quite a few new recruits had come through the portal. Rebecca and Alicia were in charge of training them in combat and survival skills, respectively.

Thirty minutes into Rebecca's lesson, Guzman walked up to her with an officer in tow and said,

"Miles, come with me. Walker will replace you for today."

Rebecca excused herself from her class and walked with Guzman.

"What's going on?" She asked. Guzman looked at her sideways and said,

"A situation has presented itself. Taylor will brief you on the details." They walked the rest of the way in silence. Taylor was loading his bag into a waiting rover when Rebecca and Guzman arrived. He looked up and said,

"It took you long enough. Miles, you're driving me, let's go." She jumped into the first rover with Taylor and took off with Guzman driving more men in the rover behind her. Taylor called out over the racket,

"The northern scientific research outpost sent out a distress call. One of the researchers has been injured. They're reporting abnormal Slasher activity as the cause. Our objective is to neutralize the threat and bring the injured man back for medical attention." He looked at Rebecca, "This is going to be your first Slasher encounter Miles. Remember, keep away from their tails and aim at their underbellies."

Rebecca kept her eyes on the terrain in front of her and responded, "yes sir." She couldn't bear to be alone with Taylor right now; she didn't have complete control over her feelings yet. The rest of the ride was silent. No words were spoken between Rebecca and Taylor, although the radio kept squawking between them with updates from the men. Taylor kept his gaze on Rebecca for most of the ride. He knew that she had been acting differently over the past few weeks. He recognized that this silence was an awkward silence and that Rebecca was too uncomfortable to say anything to him. It was too late to break it so he just kept studying her face, trying to understand what was bothering her. He had an idea but he pushed it to the back of his mind. As they neared the outpost he turned from her and reached into the back of the rover to grab a couple of guns.

Rebecca came to a stop and Taylor passed one of the guns to her. They both jumped out of the rover and started surveying the area. Guzman pulled up behind Rebecca's rover more than a few seconds later.

"Almost lost you back there Guzman," Rebecca said with a small smirk, constantly surveying the forest in front of her with her gun at the ready.

"Focus Miles," he growled in response. She glanced over to him to smile again, but instead she yelled out,

"Guzman, get down!" He dropped and rolled away from the Slasher that had appeared behind his back. Rebecca opened fire on the beast, keeping her eyes on its dancing tail. Another soldier added to Rebecca's attack and everyone else kept moving to search for the researcher and find the other Slashers. Snapping its jaws and growling miserably, the Slasher disappeared back into the bushes as quickly as it had appeared. Guzman got up off of the ground and didn't appear to be shaken.

Rebecca heard a soft moan from the bushes somewhere in front of her position. She called out,

"I found something!" Rebecca walked into the bushes, gun first and started surveying the ground to find the source of the noises. After a few paces she found the researcher, cut up and bleeding in multiple places. She bent down and placed her fingers on his clammy neck to feel for a pulse. It flickered lightly under her fingers in response.

"I found him, he's alive!" Taylor and another man came up behind her creating a protective circle. Rebecca reported to him, "his pulse is very weak, sir."

Rebecca stood up out of her crouch as two more of their men came and picked the researcher up. She smiled wearily at Taylor and suddenly frowned when she saw movement in a large bush behind him.

"No!" she yelled. Another Slasher came charging out of the barbed branches and towards Taylor. Without thinking, Rebecca hurled herself at Taylor, but as she collided with him, she heard a whistling sound. Like something thin being hurled through the air by her head. They both landed on the ground hard and she heard guns firing above her position, along with the screeches of the Slasher. But something was wrong. The world around Rebecca moved in slow motion as her face started to burn, the feeling turning wet the farther it crept down her neck. Within seconds she become disoriented and the last thing that she saw was Taylor's face leaning over hers, mouthing something over and over again. And everything went dark.

**Please review! Any feedback is good feedback!**


	4. The Awakening

**(March 12, 2015) Officially rewritten. **

**I own Rebecca**

Chapter 4

Commander Taylor stood over Rebecca, racked with guilt. She was still unconscious from the Slasher attack, and he knew that if he had just paid more attention to his surroundings Rebecca wouldn't have gotten hurt. He looked down on her as the attack kept playing through his head. He heard Rebecca cry out and suddenly crash into him. He saw the Slasher's tail fly inches from his face and towards Rebecca's as they both fell. But the image that would remain forever burned into his memory was that of Rebecca lying on the ground with blood pouring down her neck.

Taylor glanced around him and closed the door of the private room that he had Rebecca moved to. He let out a loud sigh and rubbed his eyes. Rebecca had a broken arm and a gash in her face because of him. She was about to go into surgery for her arm, but she would still have to recover from some muscle damage. It would take time before he could put her back into the field. And now that she was incapacitated, he realized how much he actually needed her. Taylor paced back and forth across the room. He paused by Rebecca's side and started to reach down to move a few strands of hair out of her bandaged face, but he pulled back as the door opened and a doctor walked in with surgical equipment. Taylor looked up at the doctor and said,

"Be sure to tell me when she wakes up." The doctor nodded and turned back to her work and Taylor walked out the door.

Two days later Rebecca woke up, alone.

She moaned and cursed softly under her breath as she tried to move, but her right side was tied down. She felt disoriented and she started to call out in a slightly slurred voice,

"Hello? …hey, is anyone there?" Seconds later someone walked up to her side and injected something into her arm. Instantly everything came into focus and she sucked in a breath of alarm. An apologetic voice spoke out from above her,

"I'm sorry about that. How are you feeling Rebecca?"

She looked up at a smiling middle aged man holding a clipboard.

"Where's Taylor? Did he get hurt?"

"No, he's fine. You certainly took the full force of that Slasher. Now, how are you feeling Rebecca?" Rebecca took stock of his words. So the Slasher did get her, that meant she was in the medical center. As she took a quick inventory of her body, she became very aware of how painful and stiff the left side of her face was. It even burned as she spoke. She leaned her head back slowly and closed her eyes when she responded.

"It feels like I just got hit in the face by the tail of a Slasher."

The man smiled softly for a moment, until he glanced back down at the clipboard.

"You also broke your arm from the fall. Dr. Walters patched that right up, but we did immobilize it for the time being…"

"Get to the bad news," Rebecca said quietly. This made the man frown,

"The cut to your face was extremely deep. Even with our technology, we could only do so much. Dr. Walters prevented any permanent muscle damage, but you will have a scar. You can come back here for treatments every day to make it fade away."

"I'll keep it." The man looked at her curiously. He opened his mouth to speak, but Rebecca cut him off. She spoke slowly,

"I'll keep the scar, thank you."

At that moment, Alicia walked into the room and addressed Rebecca in an indifferent tone,

"Good, you're awake." She turned to the man and said, "You can leave now." He quickly turned and left, closing the door behind him. Alicia looked down at Rebecca and smiled mockingly,

"You certainly have a funny way of showing people how you feel." Rebecca knew exactly where this conversation was going, and she didn't like it. Knowing her sister, Alicia would have brought this up eventually, so Rebecca decided to let her continue. She responded to Alicia's taunt,

"So, you're telling me that no one else would have tried to save someone who was in danger, especially the man in charge of this entire colony? Not even Guzman . . . not even you?" Alicia looked away from her sister in annoyance. Rebecca tried to laugh softly, but stopped from the pain.

"Let me guess," Rebecca continued, "you wanted to be the one to save him." It wasn't a question. "Well Alicia, what I did was what any good soldier would do. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time."

Alicia turned back to Rebecca with a look of spite and asked,

"How long have you been in love with him Rebecca?"

"Alicia, I was just about to ask you the same thing." And with that comment, they both just stared at each other, waiting for the other to yield. Rebecca gave in first, as she wanted to be left alone,

"If we let this come between us, there is nowhere for you to run away to this time. And I'm willing to bet that the object of your affection won't run away with you either. What happened all of those years ago is behind us, you were the one to convince me of that. Don't make me relive it. Let this go before it goes too far." Alicia stared at her sister with anger clouding her face. She said,

"Taylor came here several times during the last two nights to check on you Rebecca. He thought that he wasn't seen, but some of us noticed. Whatever you have been doing to get him worked, and I expected more of you. This must be some sick kind revenge Rebecca. I think you need to be the one to let this go. You're in over your head." She turned and walked stiffly out the door. Rebecca slammed her fist onto her bed with as much strength as she could manage. The wireless sensors started to beep from the strategic places on her skin, picking up the subtle change in her vitals and a woman walked into her room a few minutes later.

"You're the doctor that operated on me aren't you?" She didn't wait for an answer. "Good, you can get me out of here." Rebecca started to take the sheets off of her with her good arm and sat up on the bed getting ready to stand. The doctor quickly put a hand on her shoulder to hold her down. Rebecca glared up at her and the doctor held up her other hand in apology,

"I'm sorry Rebecca. You shouldn't be getting up right now. Please, lie back down."

"Do you really think I'm that injured?" Rebecca didn't try to hide her sarcasm.

The doctor looked a little nervous when she responded.

"You lost a lot of blood, you still need rest."

"Fine, I'll go rest in my quarters." She moved to get up again but the doctor kept her hand on her good shoulder. She spoke more firmly,

"On Commander Taylor's orders, you can't leave the infirmary." Rebecca laughed softly and said,

"Let me guess, Wash told you that."

"No," she said quickly. "Commander Taylor told me himself. So please, lie back down."

Rebecca looked up at the doctor in annoyance and asked her next question in a surprisingly calm voice,

"What?" The doctor only repeated herself. This news tightened Rebecca's resolve and she quickly stood up, swaying on the spot. The doctor moved in to help her, but she pushed her away. Rebecca ripped the sensors off of her and reached over to her clothes. She reached up and lightly touched the thick gauze that covered the side of her face. She hesitated, but left the gauze on.

Rebecca steadily made her way back to her quarters. She knew that the doctor would be telling Taylor that she had left the infirmary, and she didn't care. The infirmary was the last place she wanted to be. She earned a few glances from some concerned looking Terra Novians but she kept making her way back home. When Rebecca finally made it back, she collapsed on her bed in misery. Feeling this weak tormented her. She sat up, unbound her right arm, and touched the gauze on her face again. Rebecca stood up and walked over to the mirror in her room. She readied herself and peeled the gauze off of her face. The wound was, for the most part healed, like the doctor had said, but the sight made tears come to her eyes. It started an inch above her left eyebrow, crossing over the far side of it, just missing her eye, it stretched all the way down her cheek, and curved towards her mouth before ultimately disappearing under her chin. It was thick and disgusting and it would haunt her, but this scar was hers to bear forever.

She left the gauze off and lied back down on her bed, blinking out the tears. It was hours later before anyone came to check on her. Pretty soon she found herself drifting asleep. A knock on the door startled Rebecca awake. She turned her head to the clock on the nightstand, she had only slept for an hour. Then she turneed back to the door.

"It's open," she said softly, and Commander Taylor walked in. Rebecca quickly turned her head just enough to hide the left side of her face. He walked over to her, holding a chair that he had taken out of her kitchen, and sat down a few feet away from her bed. Rebecca kept staring straight ahead at the wall as she waited for Taylor to speak. He also remained silent for a moment, still collecting his thoughts. Finally he looked up at her and said carefully,

"What you did was a brave thing Rebecca, thank you. I know this will be hard, but I do have to debrief you on what happened."

Rebecca kept her eyes forward as she realized he had used her first name, he had never done that before. She took a quick breath and told Taylor everything that she remembered about the attack. She spoke softly and steadily, but she wanted more than anything to know what Taylor was thinking. As she finished, Taylor got up to leave. She turned her head slightly to look at his face, and she was sad to see that it was grim. He turned and paused, pulling something out of his pocket. It was the barb from the tail of a Slasher, and she could only assume that it was from the very one that had attacked them. He placed it on her dresser and looked back at Rebecca.

"Who killed it?" She asked.

"Guzman."

"He can keep it. I have a trophy of my own."

Taylor held Rebecca's gaze and said,

"Rest up Miles." He paused as if to say more, but he just picked up the barb and turned, leaving Rebecca in a stunned silence.

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	5. OTG

**Finally, my next chapter. I hope you enjoy!**

**I own Rebecca Miles.**

Chapter 5

Rebecca sat down at Boylan's Bar with a sigh. A silence filled the bar behind her as the customers realized who she was. Tom walked over to her, a full pint in hand, and placed it in front of her.

"It's on the house," he said. Rebecca looked up at him and laughed softly,

"Thanks." She noticed his eyes linger on her scar before turning back to his work. A few minutes later Boylan turned back to her and said,

"What you did was a very brave thing Rebecca. I know Taylor can wear on a person, but I would hate to see how Terra Nova would fare without him. Don't mind those people," he waved to the customers around him. Tom leaned in closer and winked as he said, "they don't know how to appreciate a hero when they see one." Rebecca smiled sadly again.

"Thanks Tom."

It had been three weeks since the Slasher incident and Rebecca's injury had closed over leaving the thick scar behind. She had immersed herself into working out to gain her strength back. By now Rebecca had more than compensated for her injuries and was in the best shape of her life. There wasn't much more for her to do either way, she hadn't been called out for a mission since the attack. So Rebecca found new ways to entertain herself.

Quietly Rebecca's shadow slipped into the Bar. Rebecca could feel that she was there, so she turned around and got up from her stool.

"Skye, what are you doing here? This is a bar." Skye looked up at Rebecca with big eyes. Skye came in with the fifth pilgrimage and was only in her early teens. She had just lost her parents to the Fever and Taylor graciously took the title of Skye's legal guardian. Ever since then Skye had latched on to Rebecca and followed her everywhere. Rebecca nodded her thanks towards Boylan and walked with Skye out the door. Once they got outside Rebecca turned to Skye,

"You can't stay with me today, Skye. I have to take care of some…grown-up things." Skye just looked at Rebecca skeptically. Then she nodded and bounded off down the rows of buildings. Rebecca watched her go and let out a sigh of relief. Today she was going OTG and she didn't want Skye to come along.

Rebecca shouldered her pack and tried to look inconspicuous. She walked around buildings and made her way to the perimeter fence. After checking for guards, she slipped through a large gap in the fence and sprinted the short distance into the forest. Almost every other day Rebecca would try to go OTG and loose herself in the wilderness and sneaking out was ridiculously easy. She had found a couple of slightly worn paths near the colony and had gotten bored with those. But the other day, she had found a place high on the mountain where you could see all of Terra Nova and she was determined to get there and back again by nightfall.

A loud snap behind Rebecca made her whirl on the spot with her hunting blade drawn and at the ready. She quickly lowered it at the sight in front of her. Skye stood before her disheveled with twigs in her hair and a few small scrapes on her face. Skye looked somewhat embarrassed but Rebecca could see determination fill her eyes. Rebecca sheathed her knife and said,

"Come on, we have a long way to go." Rebecca reached down into her pack and took out a smaller knife and handed it to Skye, "be careful with this and stay with me." Skye nodded fiercely. They worked their way up the mountain with Skye talking the whole time. Rebecca helped Skye up on a couple of larger rocks and she was relieved to see that they didn't run into any dinosaurs.

Rebecca and Skye stood together at one of the higher points on the mountain. They looked down upon Terra Nova and the surrounding forest. Skye had tears in her eyes so Rebecca gingerly reached over and gave Skye half of a hug, but Skye turned to Rebecca and crushed herself into her arms.

"Thank you," Skye whispered with silent tears streaming down her face. Rebecca didn't say anything. She just held Skye and looked down upon Terra Nova.

Hours later Rebecca and Skye slipped back into Terra Nova just in time for dinner. Skye's friends ran up to them as they entered the mess hall. Rebecca looked at Skye pointedly and Skye smiled and ran off with them. Rebecca saw Taylor walk into the hall with Wash and Guzman, deep in conversation. Rebecca cursed under her breath in annoyance and grabbed a quick meal to go and slipped out the side door, lingering long enough for the trio to see her. Her breath caught in her chest as her eyes locked with Taylor's.

Sure enough, thirty minutes later while Rebecca was bench pressing weights in the exercise room of the security building, Alicia walked in alone.

"You're in luck," Alicia started abruptly, "Taylor asked about your progress, to see if you were ready to be back in the field again."

Rebecca kept lifting the weights in silence. Alicia walked over to her in annoyance and forced the weights onto the hooks at the top of the rack.

"He wants you back out there Rebecca, are you happy now? Personally I think if you see or hear a Slasher you'll panic." She paused and asked cautiously,

"Are you over him yet Becca? You'd better be…"

"Or what, Alicia?" Rebecca interrupted calmly, "I never liked Taylor like that, I respect him. Personally, I think you're a little paranoid, which is strange because you were the one to cross me."

"You're lying," Alicia said softly.

"He's all yours."

Alicia looked somewhat satisfied at this and turned to leave. Rebecca lied back down on the bench and closed her eyes. She still had strong feelings towards Commander Taylor, but she had just wanted to shut Alicia up. Rebecca tried to suppress the flicker of hope that rose in her chest when she thought about being around Taylor again, but she was still confused and rather annoyed at the way he had been treating her over the last few weeks. Taylor avoided all eye contact with her for more than a few seconds, he avoiding speaking directly to her, and he seemed distracted whenever she walked into a room. Rebecca stood up and started pummeling one of the punching bags hanging in the corner. Dripping with sweat and thoroughly exhausted, Rebecca finally went home.

The next day, Rebecca got ready to go OTG again. She double checked for Skye this time. Almost at the fence, Rebecca's heart pounded, she had glimpsed Taylor following her. She played dumb and doubled back to make sure no one else was with him. Seeing that he was alone, Rebecca slipped through the fence. She watched from the forest and saw Taylor turn back around and disappear behind a small building. Her breath kept catching in her chest. Rebecca didn't know how Taylor was going to punish her. Now he knew that she was going off limits on an almost daily basis.

It was too late for her to turn back now, and she wasn't going to let Taylor ruin her fun. It was his fault that she even became bored enough to start hiking around Terra Nova in the first place. As she neared the top of the mountain, Rebecca heard a rustling sound from behind her making her turn. Slowly and silently she unsheathed her knife, watching the spot from which she had heard the sound. A familiar chirping echoed out from the bushes and she cursed her rotten luck. It was a Gallosaur, a small carnivore that usually hunted in packs to overwhelm their prey. Slowly Rebecca backed away from the bushes. Suddenly the Gallosaur leapt out of the bush and landed feet away from her, chirping and jerking its head in subtle surveying movements. No other Gallosaurs followed it out, so Rebecca assumed it was either hurt or shunned from its pack. It lunged at her and hissed as she swept her knife towards it. Rebecca's other hand was reaching for her holstered gun when another gun fired from behind her. The charge whipped by her shoulder and rammed into the head of the Gallosaur. It screeched and turned back into the bushes.

Rebecca straightened out of her crouch and lowered her knife. She turned around and said,

"I had it right where I wanted it."

"If you say so," Commander Taylor said with a smile. It faded as he continued,

"Now, I don't know what to do with you Miles. Something tells me that this isn't the first time you've been out here alone."

"I've had a lot of free time lately," Rebecca scoffed. "Come on, were almost at the top." She turned away from Taylor and continued up the mountain. Taylor followed in silence, until they reached the summit.

"With all of my time out here, I'm surprised that I never found this." Taylor looked out over Terra Nova. Rebecca turned her head towards Taylor and asked,

"Why have you been avoiding me?" Taylor jerked his head away from the view to stare at Rebecca. He paused for a moment, thinking over his answer. Finally he said,

"I wanted to make sure you were ready to be back in the field." Rebecca shook her head, crossed her arms, and said calmly,

"That's not the answer to my question, and you know it. What the hell is going on?"

Taylor took the few steps to cross the distance between them and said,

"Rebecca, I just can't figure you out." Taylor's eyes bored into Rebecca's and she stared back with as much strength as she could manage. Her head wanted to turn away from him, shielding her scar, but he never so much as glanced at it. Taylor continued,

"I know that I can trust you. What I don't know is what you want from me, from all of this."

Rebecca gave in to the urge and let her head turn down slightly, just enough to block Taylor's view of her scar. She gritted her teeth in frustration and turned her eyes downward too, he was being cryptic. Rebecca's heart started to beat faster in her chest and she clenched her fists in an attempt to calm down. Taylor gently placed two of his fingers under Rebecca's chin and slowly lifted her face back up towards his. Rebecca let her defenses drop and she knew her eyes were showing him everything. She held her breath as Taylor moved his hand up to her scar.

Slowly, Taylor traced the scar on Rebecca's face with his finger and followed it with his eyes. Rebecca gazed directly into Taylor's eyes while his were still focused on her scar. He showed no distaste or repulsion, just a sadness that shook Rebecca to the core. As his finger reached her chin his eyes shifted to look directly into hers. He spoke in a low voice,

"Every time I look at your scar, I'm reminded of how I failed to protect you."

"Don't say that," Rebecca interrupted in a soft voice, "because every time I look at my scar, I'm reminded of how I protected you." Her voice lowered as she continued,

"Please, don't blame yourself."

Commander Taylor didn't say anything. He reached back up to Rebecca's face to hold her uninjured cheek with his hand and slowly he started to pull Rebecca's face towards his.

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	6. Confrontation

**Sorry it took a little longer to post than I would have liked. I had finals this past week so I had to study. **

**I own Rebecca Miles**

Chapter 6

Rebecca closed her eyes as her lips neared Taylor's. Moments slipped by and suddenly everything froze. A scream echoed out from the base of the mountain, followed by a terrible roar. Rebecca's eyes flew open and met Taylor's, filled with dread. She whispered,

"Skye." His face became blank and they staggered back away from each other. Taylor started towards the pack he had dropped earlier. Rebecca dashed over to hers and they both started quickly down the mountain, drawing their guns at the same time. The roar echoed out again and Taylor shouted,

"It's a Carnotaurus!" They rushed down the mountainside in silence until they reached Skye. She was perched halfway up a tree and paralyzed in fear, just out of the Carno's reach. Taylor and Rebecca opened fire on the enormous dinosaur. Its head swiveled towards them, roared, and started to back away from the tree. It moved its head from Taylor to Rebecca and finally settled its gaze upon Rebecca. Taylor started to move sideways towards her when he saw the Carno's choice. Still staring down the Carno, he spoke to her in an even voice,

"Rebecca, get behind me. Now."

"I've got this Taylor!" Rebecca yelled back.

"That's an order!" He yelled.

She was staring down the Carno with her gun at the ready. It dipped its head down three times and pawed at the ground once before it started its charge towards Rebecca. She held her ground and started shooting concussion blasts at its head. Taylor ran full speed at Rebecca and slammed into her. The Carno ran right through the spot where she had been standing moments before.

Rebecca lurched off of the ground with dirt smearing her face and glared at Taylor for a moment before turning back to the Carno. It roared at them again and they opened fire. The Carno shook its head with aggravation and started to paw at the ground again. Somewhere in the woods behind it, another dinosaur started to roar and the Carno cocked its head towards the sound. It let out a small grunt, turned its bulk away from Rebecca and Taylor, and galloped back into the forest.

Rebecca stood in a stunned silence taking deep breaths. Taylor took a few quick strides up to her, grabbed the front of her shirt, and pushed her into a nearby tree. He spoke in a strained voice as he said,

"You disobeyed a direct order, Miles." Rebecca remained silent, because when she looked into Taylor's eyes, they weren't angry, they were filled with fear. Taylor softened his stare and let go of Rebecca's shirt, but he didn't back away from her. Sadness crept into her heart because Taylor stopped calling her by her first name. Rebecca slipped out from in between Taylor and the tree and left him standing there, with his hand still raised and his eyes following her. She walked over to the tree that Skye had managed to climb up and addressed the odd look of both fear and confusion that was playing across her face,

"Come on down Skye, the Carno's gone. There's nothing to see here." Skye's head swiveled from Rebecca to Taylor before glancing into the forest and she slowly started to make her way down the tree. By the time Skye made it to the bottom of the tree, Taylor had walked back over to them. He said tersely,

"My rover is nearby, come on."

Taylor lead the way and Rebecca walked behind him with her hand on Skye's back, leading her along. The ride back to Terra Nova was extremely tense and the only words spoken were by Taylor, inquiring on Skye's condition. He didn't even let Rebecca drive. When they arrived back at Terra Nova, Taylor pulled Skye aside to talk to her about what had just occurred. Rebecca tried to take responsibility for Skye's decision to follow her into the forest, but Taylor quickly dismissed her. Rebecca went back to her house to sort through what had just happened between herself and Commander Taylor. She had to attend his class later in the day, and she knew that nothing could interfere with her performance. The thought that ran in circles through her mind was the thought of what might have been . . . if they had actually kissed before the Carnotaurus ruined their chance.

Commander Taylor sat behind his desk in thought, trying to figure out what was happening between Rebecca and himself. When he was with Rebecca, she made him act on impulses and feel emotions that he had locked away years ago when Ayanni died. He rubbed his brow as the pain that thinking of Ayanni always brought rushed into him. A great deal about being with Rebecca seemed wrong to him morally, but Taylor wanted to be with her regardless. He sighed and quickly ran a hand through his hair before getting up to prepare for his lesson. He groaned inwardly at the thought of having to see Rebecca in front of him again so soon. And for the sake of both of their reputations, he knew that no one could ever know what happened on that mountain.

A few hours later, Taylor stood before his private class of soldiers and started to teach his lesson. Every student held their full attention on him, even Rebecca, and Taylor had to be careful not to let his gaze linger upon Rebecca's for too long. Half way through his lesson, Wash slipped into the back of the room. She made no motion to talk to Taylor so he assumed she was just observing. Near the end of his lesson, while Taylor was describing some defensive maneuvers and blocks, one soldier blurted out,

"Let Wash and Miles demonstrate sir! We have yet to see them fight." A few other soldiers mumbled in agreement. Wash started to inch her way out of the room but Taylor beckoned with one hand and addressed her directly,

"That sounds like a good idea Wash. Why don't you and your sister demonstrate proper fighting techniques for the class?" He spoke with a faint sarcasm that few picked up on. Rebecca was the first to move over to the sparring mat and start to stretch. Wash walked stiffly over to the mat and waited for Rebecca to finish. When she finally straightened back up, they both raised their fists and waited for the other to throw the first punch.

Wash was the first to lash out. She threw a punch towards Rebecca's head and Rebecca batted it to the side. This happened a second time, making Wash scowl in aggravation. She would not let herself be humiliated by her sister. She started throwing punches left and right and even tried landing a few kicks, but Rebecca blocked every single one. Suddenly, Rebecca let the anger that she held towards her sister out and started a barrage of punches at Wash. One punch clipped Wash's shoulder and she hissed in pain. Rebecca kept pushing Wash back until she reached the edge of the mat. In a moment of panic, Wash darted out to the side of Rebecca and rounded on her. Rebecca turned without breaking her momentum and swung her arm out, slamming across Wash's chest, making her fall flat onto the mat. Rebecca hesitated, but she walked over to Wash and offered a hand up. Wash shoved it aside and lurched off of the ground by herself. She didn't even bother to brush herself off before storming out of sight. Rebecca visibly sighed and quickly followed her sister.

"Alicia, wait!" Rebecca called out to her sister's receding figure. Rebecca ran to catch up to her. As she neared her, Wash whipped around making Rebecca skid to a halt. Wash shouted at her sister,

"Are you happy now Becca? You beat me in a fight, so what!"

"Alicia, that's not what's really bothering you is it?" Rebecca said calmly.

"That's right Becca. And to think you're the one who should be mad at me. You're the one ruining my reputation!"

"Damn right I should be mad at you. Fifteen years ago you ran away with my fiancé and our money and left me with nothing. Remember that?" Rebecca smirked at the stunned look on Alicia's face and continued, "You're the reason I joined the marines in the first place, and why I started racing. Those were the only options I had left. You ruined my life, and then you expect me to just forgive you, because you 'saved me' by dragging me to Terra Nova." Rebecca kept her voice so calm throughout her speech that Wash continued to stand in a stunned silence. Rebecca continued to ask,

"Where is he now?"

"He's dead." Wash looked uncomfortable and said slowly, "After we left, he went outside without his re-breather." Rebecca closed her eyes and took a slow breath. She opened her eyes and said,

"I have nothing more to say to you." She turned and walked away, leaving Wash once more in silence. Rebecca stopped about halfway back to her house and leaned against a building, trying to hold back the emotions she had locked away. She hadn't expected to reopen them after so long, and the pain she now felt was just as strong as it was fifteen years before. She stumbled her way into her house and managed to close the front door behind her before falling to her knees. Wave after wave of sadness crashed into her over and over again. For a few moments Rebecca mourned her long lost lover but she knew there was no more reason to. It was the fact that he had killed himself that bothered her the most. She staggered up off of the floor and fell into a nearby chair. A few tears rolled down her cheeks before she could push away most of the pain.

Rebecca sat in the chair for a long time trying to shut away what she was feeling. Just as she was starting to feel better a knock on the door dragged her out of her thoughts. When Rebecca opened the door, she was surprised to see Taylor standing there. He glanced up and down Rebecca taking in the state she was in and asked,

"Can I come in?"

Rebecca nodded and walked back to the chair, but didn't sit down. Taylor pulled the door closed behind him and walked up to Rebecca with his hands clasped in front of him.

"Rebecca, we need to talk." He hesitated and asked, "Are you o.k. to talk right now?"

"I'm fine," Rebecca said sharply. Taylor nodded slowly and said,

"You are one of the best soldiers that I have, and I'm not going to ruin your reputation, or mine. Any instability could bring this colony crumbling down. What happened up there . . . "

"So you don't feel anything?" Rebecca interrupted. Taylor held up his hand,

"What I'm trying to say is that we can't afford to be together. There are too many risks involved. Rebecca, I'm old enough to be your father."

Rebecca took a step towards Taylor and said,

"That's it then. I mean, I never figured you as a person to avoid taking risks."  
>"Rebecca," Taylor said as a warning. Rebecca surprised both Taylor and herself by saying in a mocking voice,<p>

"Nathaniel." Taylor stared at Rebecca, amazed at how bold she was being. He had to admit to himself that he liked that she was.

Wash walked towards her sister's house thinking over what she was going to say. After they finally confronted their issues, she had some crazy urge to at least try to apologize for real. When she reached Becca's house, Wash was surprised to see that the front door was cracked slightly open. Wash peered through the crack and slowly pushed the door open. She heard muffled voices coming from another room. As she crept towards them, a spark of anger grew in her chest when she recognized the voice talking to her sister, it was Commander Taylor's.

Silently, Wash took cover behind a nearby wall and quickly peered into the room before moving carefully back out of sight. What she saw made that spark grow. Taylor was standing close to Rebecca and Rebecca had her typical poker face on. Wash stayed perfectly still and listened.

" . . . I mean, I never figured you as a person to avoid taking risks."

"Rebecca." Wash smiled, Taylor sounded annoyed. But as she heard Rebecca's response, her jaw dropped.

"Nathaniel."

She couldn't believe the nerve of her sister, calling Taylor by his first name and sounding rather sarcastic when she did. Silence stretched out longer than was comfortable, so Wash quickly looked around the corner and watched in horror as Taylor roughly grabbed Rebecca and kissed her. Wash was frozen, peering around the corner watching them kiss. Suddenly she jerked out of her trance and moved back around the corner. Silently, she walked back outside and closed the door quietly behind herself. She briskly walked away from the house and kept walking until she found a small alley between two buildings. Wash leaned her back against the wall and leaned her head back against the wall as well. She looked up at the darkening sky and tears began to stream down her face.

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	7. Fighting Reality

**Finally, Chapter 7. I hope you enjoy.**

**I own Rebecca Miles**

Chapter 7

Rebecca could see it in his eyes. Moments before Taylor pulled her body to his, she saw his eyes change. Almost like something inside of him had snapped and she could see everything. When their lips met, Rebecca was stunned. She hadn't expected Taylor to kiss her like this, or even kiss her at all. Only seconds after Taylor surprised her, a slow burning wave rose within her body, completely taking her off guard. The wave washed away the doubts that she had about Taylor's feelings for her. Suddenly, she moved her hands up from her side and pulled Taylor even closer. She was worried about the potential backlash that a relationship between them could bring, but for right now it was just the two of them, and she could let herself go.

Taylor gave into his last reserve of self-control and reached up to Rebecca's long dark hair, letting it down. It cascaded down her shoulders and he spread his fingers through it, holding his hand up behind her head. Rebecca pulled away from Taylor for the briefest moment to take in a breath. Her eyes darted over Taylor's face in question, but he simply smiled at her. She felt a smile spread across her own face and quickly kissed him again. Suddenly, Taylor's radio emitted a loud hissing sound and a voice rang out breaking the spell and making them stagger apart. They stood there staring at each other as the reality of their scandalous situation came crashing down on them. Rebecca's heart was pounding and she was anxiously running every possible response that Taylor could say to her through her mind. Finally, he said softly,

"No one can know." He moved closer to Rebecca once more and ran his fingers down the side of her face, purposely brushing against her scar. She tilted her head into it and said calmly,

"I know."

Still holding his hand to her face Taylor said,

"Tomorrow, I'm going out to retrieve data from a scientific outpost. I'm taking you with me. We'll talk then." Taylor hesitated at the blank look on Rebecca's face, so in an act of desperation, Rebecca leaned in to give Taylor one last kiss before he could turn to leave. This time it felt strange and rushed for both of them, neither one knowing if, or when they would ever be able to have a moment like this again. They pulled apart, both uncertain of the future this relationship would bring. Taylor turned and started to walk away. When he reached her front door, Taylor quickly turned his head back to Rebecca in concern. Rebecca said steadily,

"I won't give any reason for anyone to suspect us." She did waver at the uncertainty covering Taylor's face. He nodded once and said with a sad smile,

"I know." He turned and walked out the door. Rebecca stared after him for some time, not really knowing what to think. Suddenly, she kicked a chair across the room in an unexpected outburst of frustration. Rebecca spent the rest of the night at Boylan's bar. She sat at a table in the shadowy corner throwing back a couple of shots. She stopped after those two, weighing the fact that she did have to go on a mission early the following morning, and Boylan was giving her quite a few concerned glances. In reality, she was anxiously waiting for morning to come, when she could be alone with Taylor again.

The next morning Rebecca reported to the rover garage and checked one out following protocol. She drove it through the colony, parked it near the front gate, and went slowly through some last minute security checks to prolong her reunion with Taylor. While Rebecca was making her way up to Taylor's office, Wash walked out and gave Rebecca an icy stare as she passed her on the stairs. Rebecca turned her head to glance back at Wash curiously before walking into Taylor's office.

Taylor stood up as Rebecca entered the room and walked over to the pack that he had waiting. When he looked at her, he was suddenly brought back to the night before and a mixture of passion and concern washed over him. Rebecca made him feel alive, but he couldn't help weighing the consequences if anyone were to discover his feelings for her. Taylor was impressed at the way Rebecca addressed him in front of the other soldiers, who were scattered throughout his office, as if nothing had happened between them. He felt a faint nagging hope at her ability to remain composed. They loaded up and Taylor gave Rebecca the order to head out. The mission went without a hitch, and Rebecca finally confronted Taylor about the night before.

On the drive back to the colony, Rebecca was nervously waiting for Taylor to mention the night before. He seemed to be on auto-pilot and focused, she could only hope that was an act. Finally, Rebecca couldn't hold it in any longer. She pulled off of the trail and stopped the rover. She kept her eyes forward as she said,

"I'm sorry. We need to talk about last night. I just don't know what to say."

"I'm not so sure myself Rebecca." Taylor said and turned his head to look at her. Rebecca remained silent longer than Taylor would have liked, but she eventually said,

"This was a mistake," she gunned the rover's engine and took off back down the trail with a faint grimace crossing her face. Taylor frowned and yelled over the din of the forest,

"Rebecca, stop." She made no effort to bring the rover to a halt again. Taylor raised a hand in frustration and yelled out again,

"Becca!" He finally reached over and put his hand on Rebecca's shoulder. She jerked her head towards Taylor quickly and finally slowed to a stop. Taylor kept his hand on her shoulder as he said,

"This is going to be hard Rebecca. We both know the risks if we were to get involved with each other. We would both be ruined. Besides, consider that I'm old enough to be…"

"Don't give me that crap." Rebecca interrupted. Taylor was completely shocked by the passionate and yet harsh tone of her voice. "I don't care about our age difference. Does that really matter to you, or are you just out of reasons why we can't be together?" Taylor stared at Rebecca in silence and finally said,

"You're right." He gestured forward and Rebecca had the grace to look faintly embarrassed before driving away towards the colony in silence. Taylor knew that Rebecca understood all of the risks, and he also knew that she didn't care. Now he was just fighting the morals that he instilled into his own soldiers. They finally arrived back at Terra Nova and Taylor dismissed Rebecca with a heavy heart, he had some thinking to do. His thoughts were plagued with those of Rebecca, distracting him from his daily duties. It took an inquiry from Guzman to finally make him focus more on his work, but she never completely left his mind.

Rebecca found herself back at Boylan's Bar, but not to drink. Sometimes she just liked to be surrounded by berating sounds, like the constant hum of people talking, or the clanks and growling motors from a garage. She preferred the latter, but she knew that Taylor usually didn't show up at Boylan's Bar for anything other than business. Now she was regretting the way she got caught up in the moment with Taylor. She was too bold, and she wondered if he was right, and them being together would be wrong. He was in charge of the entire colony and she was his soldier. She downed the rest of her drink in one long draft and made her way to the practice fields to distract herself.

The loud 'thwack' of the arrow hitting the target made Rebecca smile. The arrow was nowhere near the bulls-eye, but she was pleased that she finally hit the target. She had positioned another arrow on the bow before an all too familiar spiteful laugh rang out from behind Rebecca She lowered her bow and turned to see her sister walking up to her. The few soldiers who were practicing some tactical skill quickly turned their attention towards Rebecca and her sister. Wash picked up a bow and notched an arrow. After a moment, she pulled the string back and let the arrow loose. It hit the bulls-eye and satisfied she turned to the soldiers and said sternly,

"Dismissed."

Hastily, the men put their weapons and gear away while the sisters stood in silence, waiting for solitude. As the last man left, Wash turned back to her sister and spoke to her in a softer tone,

"You're holding it wrong, here…" She walked up to Rebecca and moved her arms until she was satisfied with the positioning.

"Now try."

Rebecca drew the string back and Wash made a few more adjustments before giving her permission to let go. The arrow whistled through the air and buried itself in the wooden wall that was placed behind the targets, for good reason. Rebecca cursed under her breath and said,

"I can shoot a tin can with a sniper rifle over a mile away, but I can't hit a target that's a stone throw away from me with an arrow."

"That would have to do with the fact that pulling a trigger is a lot easier than drawing back the string of a bow and letting it go without moving."

Rebecca flushed and turned around to face Taylor, who had probably walked up on her while she was concentrated on the target. He continued, cutting off another laugh from Wash,

"Look, I'm not saying that what you did was easy. You just have to practice."

Wash instantly stopped her laughter with a small choking sound as Taylor walked up to Rebecca and embraced her body with his to imitate her stance. He covered her arms with his, and to a bystander it honestly looked like he was showing Rebecca how to hold the bow. To Wash, it looked like so much more.

Rebecca turned her head towards Taylor while his arms were wrapped around her and they looked into each other's eyes. He softly cleared his throat and brought Rebecca back to reality and focused on her bow. Taylor helped guide Rebecca's arm back to draw the bow taught, and then he slowly backed away. She let the arrow fly and it landed halfway between her first shot and the foreboding bulls-eye. When Rebecca looked up, she saw Taylor smiling at her and the back of her sister stiffly walking away. After a quick glance around him, Taylor walked back up to Rebecca and said softly,

"Come to my office tonight, I was hoping you would stay a while."

He turned and left Rebecca in silence, not needing a reply. Her heart seemed to rise in her throat and in an attempt to dampen the emotion she quickly notched another arrow, drew the string back, and released the string missing the target completely. She cursed to herself and walked up to the wall to retrieve the arrows. She waited until the sun started to set before walking over to Taylor's office. Taylor was meeting with Guzman inside so she leaned on the railing that surrounded the building and watched the sun slowly dip below the mountainous horizon.

"It certainly is a sight to behold, isn't it?" Taylor said as he leaned on the railing next to Rebecca. He couldn't help but notice how the deep orange from the sunset highlighted Rebecca, and making her seem to glow. She quickly turned her head towards him and he had to prevent himself from reaching out to cover her hand with his. They both stood in an emotionless façade until the light from the sun had been completely swallowed by the mountains. Taylor turned and walked back into his office. Rebecca waited a few seconds before following him. When she walked through the doorway Taylor was already seated at his desk. She walked up to him and he said,

"I'll give you the code to my quarters. I have to finish up here. Will you be there in twenty minutes? Then we can talk." Rebecca nodded and started back out the door, but just as she reached it Taylor said, barely loud enough for her to hear,

"Remember, don't . . . "

"I know, be seen."

No soldiers ever guarded Taylor's quarters, they just patrolled by them in long intervals. Rebecca easily slipped into them unseen. She kept the lights out and moved into the living area, finally sitting on a chair. By the time the door opened, Rebecca had no idea how long she had been waiting. She stood up and moved behind the corner. The lights flashed on and she relaxed when she heard one set of footsteps walk through the door before it closed. Taylor called her name and Rebecca was surprised to hear uncertainty in his voice. She moved out from around the corner and found Taylor standing alone in the short hallway holding his jacket in one hand. When he saw her he visibly relaxed, surprising Rebecca. She was seeing the man behind the title of Commander.

Taylor tossed his jacket onto the small table by the door and started to walk up to Rebecca. He stopped very close to her and put his hand under her chin, tilting it up slightly. Taylor moved without a word, he traced her scar as usual, but suddenly he pulled her lips to meet his. They kissed softly at first and a wave of urgency seemed to rush over them as the kiss intensified. Taylor pulled back suddenly and studied Rebecca's face. After a moment he said,

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Rebecca answered by shrugging out of her jacket and throwing it to the floor revealing her black tank top underneath and saying,

"Would I be here if I wasn't?" Taylor smiled and grabbed Rebecca, kissing her passionately. As they moved into another room Taylor turned out the lights.

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	8. Almost Doesn't Count

Chapter 8

Over time the sixth pilgrimage came and the Sixers left, and Taylor had Rebecca to console him and conspire with. Appearances were kept up as usual, and no one suspected anything, even Wash started to doubt the relationship that existed between them. This was far from the case, because Rebecca ended up in Taylor's bed more often than her own. Mostly, she was tired of sleeping alone, and Taylor had become accustomed to discussing the issues of the colony with her. Some nights, all they did was talk. The years passed by and Rebecca and Taylor never stopped seeing each other, although they were almost caught once.

Several months after Taylor and Rebecca started sneaking around, the sixers made their move to break away from the colony. Taylor had been restless several nights before the revolt, because he was worrying over their ultimate separation from the colony. He wasn't even sure if he could let Rebecca be with him while that threat loomed over their heads, just in case they came bursting in and saw them together, consequently holding a strong amount of leverage over his head, but Rebecca convinced him otherwise. Neither of them could sleep that night and after that became apparent Rebecca tried to distract Taylor. Just as their lips met, someone began to knock frantically on the door. A voice called out,

"Commander Taylor!" They jerked apart and rushed to put the rest of their clothes back on. Rebecca cursed as she recognized her sister's voice and Taylor rushed to the door opening it halfway after he quickly straightened his jacket. Wash stood outside of the door and instantly began to talk,

"Sir, Mira is leading most of the sixth pilgrimage out of the colony, she's still rounding up supplies. We're trying to hold them without casualties. Guzman is heading the defense." Wash started to glance through the doorway as she made her hastened report. Taylor quickly blocked the doorway with his body and said to Wash's astonished face,

"Let's go!" He turned to grab another gun off of the hallway table and shot a glance at Rebecca, who was standing just out of sight from her sister. She nodded quickly while making a shooing motion with her hand and he ran out, closing the door behind him. Rebecca waited as long as she could bear before rushing out the front door behind them. No one died during the Sixer's separation, only a few minor injuries were reported. Rebecca and Taylor never discussed what could have gone wrong during Wash's visit. They just agreed to take a break from each other. This arrangement didn't even last a week.

Taylor yelled over the racket of the forest, the rover's engine, and the frustrated screeches of the gradually approaching Nycorapter.

"Get rid of him!"

Rebecca weaved the rover between the trees trying to shake it off and yelled back,

"Why is it still chasing us?"

"You almost ran him over Rebecca!"

Rebecca didn't respond, instead she glared at the forest in front of her, not daring to peel her concentration off of the terrain to give Taylor a piece of her mind. Her arms strained with the force she was using to keep the rover in control.

"He's falling back!" Taylor announced, "Now head back to the outpost."

"Yes sir," Rebecca said with a hint of sarcasm. She quickly turned the wheel, without breaking their momentum, and sped off in the direction of the outpost. Finally Rebecca pulled up to the outpost and swiftly jumped out of the rover as she eased it to a stop. She looked over at Taylor, who was staring at her with a strange expression. She swallowed softly and said,

"They're waiting inside sir."

In response, Taylor walked right up to Rebecca, grabbed her by the shoulders, and slammed her into the outer wall of the outpost, under the camera and out of its sight. Taylor said loudly,

"You disobeyed a direct order Miles. That damn good driving of yours is the only thing holding me back."

Rebecca stayed very still trying to figure out exactly what Taylor was trying to accomplish. She settled on her theory that this was just a ruse and played along.

"I'm sorry sir. It won't happen again."

"You're damn right it won't."

Taylor didn't move away from Rebecca after he seemed to finish his fake reprimand, instead he started to slowly move closer to her and he reached over to his belt to turn off his radio. Rebecca couldn't help the small smile that played across her face. When he saw the smile, he quickly closed the distance between them and kissed Rebecca firmly on the lips. She responded instantly and wrapped her arms around him, pulling her body into his. Taylor held her even tighter. The time that they spent apart from each other made this moment even more intense than they could have anticipated. At almost the same time, they pulled apart gasping for breath. Taylor and Rebecca stared at one other as their breathing slowed. Finally, Taylor turned and started walking away. Rebecca gave him a three second head start before following him into the outpost.

The next three years slipped by, and they kept their relationship a complete secret. No one ever suspected then, even Wash gave up on her wild theories. The tenth pilgrimage soon arrived, and Rebecca was with Taylor in his office when Jim Shannon's surprise arrival was brought to the Commander's attention. She was surprised to hear his story, and didn't hide the surprised amusement from her face as Shannon stared her down while he was leaving Taylor's office. That night, a couple of new arrivals who had won spots on the pilgrimage through the lottery were celebrating in Boylan's Bar. Wash and Rebecca were finally getting along and taking small steps in reestablishing their relationship as sisters. They sat in their usual table in the corner, dressed down, and carefully reminiscing about some events from their childhood that were neutral territory. One man, who had a little too much to drink, started to stagger over to the bar, but stopped at the sight of them and slurred,

"Hey there, you must be sisters because you're both so beautiful."

Wash responded coolly,

"You're drunk, just walk away." The man staggered in mid laugh and turned to Rebecca continuing to use his pathetic pickup lines on her. Wash spoke again,

"Just walk away." The man turned back to Wash and sneered,

"You jealous bitch…"

Rebecca quickly stood up and punched him in the face. He staggered back and fell backwards over a table with a loud crash. The bar fell silent as Wash jumped up to hold her sister back,

"Calm down Becca," Wash whispered into her sister's ear. Rebecca slowly forced herself to lower her fists as Boylan made his way over to them. He said wryly,

"You of all people should know Rebecca, Commander Taylor has to be informed of all brawls involving his soldiers. I just alerted him to one, so you better hurry on up to his office. I'll be telling him what happened while you're walking over, and don't you ladies worry," Boylan said with an odd smile, "I'll take care of this drunken idiot."

Rebecca turned on her heel and walked up the stairs and out of the bar with Wash following her closely. She walked right into Taylor's office and stopped in front of his desk, her whole body was radiating fury. Taylor folded his hands in front of himself and said,

"I must admit, I certainly was surprised when Boylan told me what happened. I'm not saying that this man didn't have it coming, but you need to be able to restrain yourself."

Rebecca took a slow breath and became somewhat more visibly relaxed.

"You're right sir. I can show restraint from now on."

Wash stared at her sister in shock, for she never submitted to authority that easily. Even as a marine she had gotten in deep trouble for her inability to calm down. Wash simply observed her sister in silence. Taylor dismissed them and after a backward glance, Wash followed her sister out of his office. Wash never got her sister to tell her why she gave in so easily to Taylor's scolding. Rebecca shrugged her questions off and kept walking.

Rebecca never told Taylor that she loved him. She never dared when Jim Shannon saved his life, or even when he would came back from a mission cut up from a Nyco or a Slasher. She did love him, but she had always made herself swear to never get involved with anyone, because they could always be taken away to leave nothing but heartache. Whenever Taylor and Rebecca could steal themselves away, they would hike back up the mountain trail that Rebecca had discovered years before. It was times like that that made the words, "I love you," so horrifying to her. If she were to utter them, there was no promise of Taylor's acceptance. Those words could ruin the arrangement that they had with each other. A few months later, while they were up on the mountain, Taylor's radio summoned them back down to the colony. They were met by both Shannons. Taylor took Jim to the side and dismissed Rebecca.

Rebecca looked at Elizabeth Shannon and smiled politely. Elizabeth looked at Rebecca with knowing eyes. For the first time in years Rebecca felt a stab of fear that someone could actually figure out what she had with Taylor. Elizabeth said,

"I've heard a lot about you Rebecca. We've only been here for six months, but I've never had to privilege to meet Wash's sister first hand."

"I don't believe that I've had the privilege to meet Jim's wife myself."

Elizabeth smiled and said,

"You like working for Commander Taylor?"

"Of course," Rebecca said firmly, "he's an honorable man. I hope you don't mind me asking, but where are you from? I'm not familiar with your accent." Rebecca hoped that the obvious change of subject would stick.

"I don't mind, but I would ask the same of you. You seem to have a slight twang from the South. And as far as I can tell, Wash does not have the same variation."

Rebecca did not respond right away, but just as she opened her mouth to awkwardly excuse herself Taylor came to her rescue. He called her back over to him as Jim rejoined his wife. Elizabeth glanced back at Taylor and Rebecca as she walked away from them with her husband. She turned to Jim and said,

"Jim, do you think Commander Taylor is involved with one of his soldiers?"

Jim turned to Elizabeth and laughed,

"Commander Taylor would never do that! But who do you think he could be involved with?"

"Rebecca…"

"Rebecca? No way, Rebecca and her sister are two of the most professional soldiers that Taylor has. Either way, he never shows her any favoritism or even looks at her the wrong way. And neither does she in return." Elizabeth sighed,

"I guess you're right Jim. I just had a funny feeling that's all."

They made their way home, and they were surprised to see Maddy waiting for them. She got up from the table and said,

"Mom, Dad, there's something going around the school. Some illness, I think I'm even getting it." She turned from her parents and coughed harshly a few times into her arm. Elizabeth looked at Jim and took her daughter's other arm.

"Come on Maddy, I'll take you to the infirmary and see what's going on."

The infirmary was packed. Elizabeth squeezed through the masses of sick patients and found a nurse,

"Why wasn't I informed of this?"

"I'm sorry Dr. Shannon," the nurse said quickly, "we just sent out a call for you."

Elizabeth nodded and started analyzing samples taken from the patients. She quickly found Malcolm and showed him her results.

"Malcolm, we don't have a vaccine for this. We've been treating the side effects and sending the sick people back to their homes. Now I know that was the wrong thing to do. Malcolm, we have a serious problem."

**Please Please Review!**


	9. As Darkness Falls

**I know that this chapter is much shorter than I would like, but the ending seemed logical where I placed it. I'll just have to make up for it in the next chapter! Please Review!**

Chapter 9

Commander Taylor strode into the infirmary with Wash and Guzman close behind. They walked up to Elizabeth and Malcolm, who were pouring over some readings lit up on a med screen. As Taylor stopped in front of the pair, they looked up and started informing the Commander of their unfortunate news. Elizabeth started by describing the virus that has been infecting the colony. She covered every piece of basic knowledge on the virus. Only one Terra Novian was in danger of dying from the virus, and he was believed to be patient 0. Elizabeth and Malcolm settled on the theory that the worker, who was on agricultural detail, picked the virus up OTG from a bite he had received during the possible infection window. Elizabeth continued to explain that once the virus got inside of him it became able to spread through the air via sneezing or similar methods. Also, Elizabeth sighed,

"But once the virus reaches a certain threshold, it goes berserk and magnifies its range of infection very substantially. After someone has been infected for as little as two days, they can become incapacitated almost instantly."

Taylor just looked at them.

"Is there a cure?" He asked calmly.

Elizabeth and Malcolm glanced at each other wearily as Malcolm continued to explain,

"This cure would require the perfect interaction of several specific plant properties. We have a chemical record of the exact plant that we need for this cure. It's a rare type of thistle that we refer to only by its scientific name . . . Unfortunately, whenever it is cultivated from its only known growing site, it withers and dies within two days so we don't have any usable samples here. There is something in the soil, that we still have yet to isolate, that keeps it alive. Its properties are so unique that it would take far too long to synthesize an equivalent compound in enough quantities for a vaccine."

Taylor rubbed his brow and said,

"Where does this plant grow Malcolm?"

"A little over11 klicks to the North, on the edge of a swamp near the Badlands."

"It's getting dark Malcolm, we'd better get moving."

Taylor turned and walked out of the infirmary and towards the gate. He started ordering his men around as Malcolm caught up to him and said wearily,

"We?"

"Someone has to identify the plant Malcolm. Come on, you'll ride with Guzman and Wash." Taylor turned to his other men as he reached the gate, "Miles, you'll drive Shannon and myself."

Taylor gave his soldiers a quick briefing on the situation. In response, every soldier was ordered to run in high gear, either by rounding up the infected citizens, or prepping the two rovers about to head out to obtain the samples of thistle. Night was creeping over the colony, but there was no time to waste. Taylor quickly assigned another man to each rover for backup and they sped out of Terra Nova and into the darkness.

About six klicks into the drive, they entered a more hostile part of the forest. Rebecca had to constantly pace herself in order to keep the headlights of the rover behind her in sight. Suddenly a noise erupted from behind Rebecca's rover and the radio began to transmit frantically,

"This is Guzman, we hit something back here! Requesting backup, we're immobile."

Rebecca didn't wait for Taylor's command, she turned the rover on a dime and doubled back to find the other rover. They found them with a slashed tire only a short distance away from a very large and rather sharp-looking rock. Wash, Guzman, and the third soldier were setting up a few lights to surround the rover. Malcolm had started to climb out, but Taylor jumped out of Rebecca's rover first and shouted,

"Malcolm, stay inside!"

He stopped and grudgingly moved back into the rover. Rebecca and Guzman had started working on replacing the tire. Minutes seemed to crawl by as the remaining soldiers patrolled their makeshift perimeter with guns at the ready. The hairs on the back of Rebecca's neck bristled and she froze. Guzman looked at her and called her name softly. After a few seconds she came back to reality and looked at him in silence. He seemed to understand that she was upset and they both stood up and backed away from the tire reaching for their guns. Taylor was instantly by their side,

"What is it?"

Rebecca whispered,

"Something is wrong."

Taylor was surprised at how scared she was. He wanted to comfort her in some way, but embracing her was out of the question. Instead he said one of the safest things he could think of,

"Go back to work, I'll cover you."

Rebecca looked at him wearily but started back to the tire. Just as she reached it a branch snapped behind them from a nearby bush. Rebecca flinched towards it with her gun back at the ready. On the other side of the rover Wash yelled out and shots were fired. Her back appeared from around the rover and she joined the others. She turned and looked right at Rebecca and said calmly,

"Slashers."

Taylor snapped his head over to Rebecca and his glance was filled with obvious concern. By now Malcolm was even out of the rover with a gun in his hands, and clearly ignoring Taylor's order. He looked at Rebecca too, and suddenly she snapped.

"I'll be fine," she said harshly, and quickly she tried to push the nagging concern to the back of her mind. By some crazy circumstances, she had managed to avoid encountering any Slasher in the years since she earned her scar. Rebecca didn't know what to expect. Before she could stop herself, she glanced back over to Taylor not even knowing why. All she got from him was a stern look that seemed rather forced so she quickly looked away, understanding his unspoken message.

Two Slashers appeared from the brush. They stood their ground as sonic blasts crashed into them. One tilted its head upward and started to screech over and over. When Rebecca heard the call, her blood turned to ice. For the first time in her life she felt absolute fear. The scar on her face carried more weight emotionally than she had ever imagined. Rebecca started to stagger backwards and away from the sound. Her newfound panic was shutting down all of her years of training and fighters instinct. Shannon was the first to notice Rebecca's reaction. He yelled out her name, drawing Taylor's attention as well. The world around Rebecca moved in slow motion as Taylor shouted something over to her, but she heard nothing more than the Slasher's screeches. Her breathing became reminiscent of her asthma attacks as Taylor continued his soundless shouting and the other soldiers opened fire around them. Suddenly, something made her jerk forward, and that was when Taylor stopped shouting and started running towards her.

Taylor didn't notice the Slasher come up from behind Rebecca. He only saw the tip of the Slasher's barb sticking out from the front of Rebecca's armor when it was too late. He ran to her as fast as he could, switching his gun out of sonic blast mode and started firing rounds into the Slasher before he reached Rebecca's collapsed form.

"No!" He cried out, for the first time in years not caring if anyone saw his emotionless façade crashing down. He cared for Rebecca and he was tired of pretending.

He fell to his knees and picked Rebecca partially up off of the ground with one arm, still letting loose a constant stream of bullets into the Slasher. Jim watched the scene unfold in shock as his wife's words echoed in his head, _'do you think Commander Taylor is involved with one of his soldiers?'_ And he had just laughed when she suggested he was involved with Rebecca. Jim rushed over to them and helped Taylor drive the Slasher away. When it was finally gone, Taylor dropped his gun and put his other arm around Rebecca. He seemed oblivious to the fact that there were still more Slasher's attacking the other men. Shannon quickly surveyed the fight and saw Wash steal a glance over to his side of the battlefield just as Taylor yelled out. She staggered, astonished at the sight of her sister on the ground and in Taylor's arms, but she quickly turned to fend off the attacking Slasher in front of her.

Rebecca felt numb, and she didn't feel any pain or emotion. She was just fading in and out of consciousness. She saw flashes of what was going on above her with unseeing eyes, but mostly she blankly remembered Taylor's face looking down upon her. That was the last thing that she saw as she finally blacked out.

As Rebecca relaxed in his arms, Taylor noticed a small smile cross her face. Then, he whispered something so softly that Jim wasn't even sure if Taylor had said anything. Taylor leaned down even closer towards her lifeless face and whispered,

"Don't you dare leave me."


	10. The End

**First chapter has been redone as of 12-18-2014. This chapter has not yet been edited. **

Chapter 10

Taylor scooped Rebecca up in silence and carried her back to the rover amidst the screeching and firing weapons. Just as he was only feet away, the last of the Slashers had been either killed or driven away. Everyone stared at them in silence as Taylor slipped her into the back seat. Wash walked up to Taylor and put a hand on his arm just as he started climbing into the rover in a stunned silence. He froze and stared at her with hollow eyes. After a few seconds his horror faded into understanding and a mask of control slipped over his pain.

"Continue ahead." He said in a stern voice. The soldiers around him seemed relieved at the return of his voice and stopped fidgeting from the uncomfortable silence. He continued to shout out more orders while Wash leaned into the rover to check on her sister. She was shocked at how still she was lying there as was not very happy at how pale she was either. Wash waited for Taylor to rush back to the rover and she called out,

"I'm coming with you."

Taylor nodded stiffly and jumped into the rover without another word. Wash slipped in the back seat with her sister just as he started to drive away through the bustling soldiers. As Wash stripped off Rebecca's chest plate her heart sank. The Slasher's barb had been so massive that there was nothing she could do to help her sister out here in the field. Everything depended on how quickly they could get her back to the colony. As they neared Terra Nova Rebecca started to shiver, she was going into shock. Wash quickly scooped her sister into her arms and fought back the tears. Time was running out.

She saw Taylor steal a glance back at them and his face was grim. He shouted commands into the radio and the colony came into sight with the front gate rising. They sped through the gate and Taylor didn't stop until he made it to the infirmary. He flew out of the rover and gently plucked Rebecca from her sister's arms. He ran inside and put her down on the table Elizabeth was directing him to. He lingered for only a moment and stared down on Rebecca's pale body and Elizabeth said sharply,

"Commander!"

He instantly lurched backwards and watched Elizabeth and her team work on Rebecca, with Wash by his side. Instantly they hooked her up with iv's for blood and fluids, the scanners were working double time, while Elizabeth was forced to use slightly more primitive methods for speed's sake. She ended up using the defibrillator two times before their work on Rebecca slowed down. Elizabeth finally turned around and wiped her brow with the back of her arm, to avoid the blood on her gloves. Taylor started at the blood before asking,

"So?"

Elizabeth spoke as she was stripping off the bloody gloves and scrubs,

"She is extremely weak and rather unstable. She lost a lot of blood and I don't expect her to regain consciousness for at least another several hours. Luckily, Rebecca seems tough so I can give a slightly better prognosis. That Slasher left a lot of internal damage, she'll be weak for the next few weeks, and she will have a lot of internal scarring. We'll work on mending the exterior scar when she stabilizes. The very worst is over, now we just wait." Her eyes flickered back and forth from Wash to Taylor. She cleared he throat carefully and asked,

"When should I be expecting the plants?" Taylor looked up at Elizabeth and said,

"Maybe another hour or two, Malcolm seemed a little unsure of himself. Jim can handle himself and the others. You have nothing to worry about."

Elizabeth nodded and turned back to Rebecca. She reached down and gently touched the gauze that encased her torso, adjusting it slightly and whispered,

"Poor girl," before walking off to work on her other patients.

Hours later, Elizabeth was still waiting to see if Rebecca could pull through her awful injury. She was also anxiously waiting for the others to return so she could start making the vaccine. They should have been back over 30 minutes ago. Wash sat by her sister's bed, not sure if she should reach out to take her cold and motionless hand. Taylor stood back a little, desperately wanting to reach over to Rebecca and hold her until she woke up. Wash turned to Taylor with red and watery eyes. She whispered,

"How long have you two…?"

She stopped with a soft choking sound and hung her head. Taylor remained silent until Wash composed herself and looked back up at him. Taylor turned his gaze back to Rebecca's unconscious form and said,

"You know."

Wash took in a slow shaky breath.

"What?"

"I saw you." Taylor said quietly. Wash took another slow breath and finally reached up to Rebecca's hand. Gently, she held it for just a moment before getting up and walking away without a backward glance. Taylor watched her leave and he quickly walked up to Rebecca and grabbed her hand. He glanced around the infirmary to see if anyone was watching him before leaning down to carefully kiss her on the forehead. As he pulled away from her, he reached down and brushed the scar on her face with his hand. Elizabeth walked up behind him and softly called his name. He slowly pulled away from Rebecca and turned to Elizabeth expectantly.

"Commander, we're having an issue with some nervous citizens."

Sure enough, Taylor could hear voices rising down the infirmary and he quickly turned from Elizabeth and walked into the commotion. As Taylor came into view, the two men who were becoming hysterical staggered back with wide eyes and silenced themselves. Taylor looked them down and asked calmly,

"Now, what seems to be the problem?"

The man closest to him rushed to speak,

"We're sick, with that virus and no one will treat us!"

"Why aren't they being treated then?" Taylor asked Elizabeth. She looked at him and said carefully,

"They're not sick with this virus Commander, these men are overreacting, they only think they have it. We cannot treat them, and either way there isn't anything we can do until I get the plants to make the vaccine." Taylor nodded and sent the men off. He looked outside of the infirmary and rubbed his brow with a sigh. There was a rather large line of people who also thought they had the virus. It was still dark out and his mind was plagued with concern for Rebecca, but he had to deal with the hysterical colony. He walked into the doorway and commanded everyone's attention. He said,

"Everyone, please go back to your homes and get some sleep. When we get what we need to make enough vaccine for every person in Terra Nova you will be informed and given everything that you will need. It won't be long now, I just ask for your patience and cooperation. Thank you."

Slowly the line left and the worries and questions were calmed and answered. Just as Taylor was about to check on Rebecca once more, the men finally drove back into the colony. Malcolm was the first out of the rover. He ran into the infirmary with a big bag filled with the thistle. On the way in he nodded at Taylor and disappeared with Elizabeth into the lab. The others filled out of the rover and Jim was the first to walk up to him. He looked at Taylor with a strange look and asked,

"How is she?"

"We're still waiting."

Jim hesitated, but he put a hand on Taylor's shoulder and nodded before walking into the infirmary. Taylor then wondered how many others figured out that he had feelings for Rebecca. For the moment it seemed to be just Jim and his wife and he took a note of that. Guzman reported to him and soon left to round up the sickest civilians for the first doses of the cure. That was when he noticed unusual noises coming out of the infirmary. Fearing the worst he ran inside and his heart jumped when he saw the small crowd around Rebecca's bed. The defibrillator went off before he reached her and the commotion died down once more. The crowd dispersed and Elizabeth was in front of him once more,

"Her heart stopped for a moment, but we brought her back. It should be another few hours until we can relax." She excused herself and went back into the lab. Taylor never left Rebecca's side until Elizabeth and Malcolm returned with grins on their faces.

"We got it!"

"What time is it?"

"Almost morning Commander, it's nearly half past five. We can start treating the patients now."

"Good, good. Guzman should have been bringing in the sickest of the colonists." Taylor stood up and after glancing at Rebecca he found Guzman and they started the treatments. At last one weight was lifted off of Taylor's chest. None had died from the virus, although patient zero came very close.

Still only hours later, Taylor was hovering in the infirmary to keep a distant eye on Rebecca. Wash had just come back and went to sit with her sister after giving Taylor a slightly forgiving nod. He was relieved that she had at least somewhat accepted their choice and was willing to look past it to be with her sister. Finally, Taylor heard Wash yell out,

"Elizabeth, She's awake!"

Taylor was instantly by her side and breathed his first sigh of relief. Rebecca grimaced and reached over to the bandages covering her chest. She tilted her head back and sighed. Eventually, weeks went by with Rebecca confined to the infirmary. Taylor came to check on her one day and she said quietly,

"Let's go."

"Rebecca, you haven't been cleared to leave." After a quick pained glare she retorted,

"I feel fine, really." Taylor sighed and knew that she would never let this go. He helped her up and led her to the door. She shook him off as best as she could and said,

"I can do this Taylor."

As Taylor walked with Rebecca out of the infirmary she smiled at the sun and fresh air. Then she looked over to Taylor and he even found himself smiling with her. Gently, he took her hand in his and together they walked out into the colony.


End file.
